Spiderbite
by calligirl13
Summary: Kagome has an accident and can't remember anything...not even InuYasha! He works hard to revive her memory, but is it enough?
1. Chapter 1

Kagome climbed out of the well, panting. Her backpack was full of things, including three or four Ramon noodle packets for Inu-Yasha. She glanced around as she struggled down the path, looking for the aforementioned half-demon. Whenever she told him she was coming, he normally waited for her. _But oh well,_ she thought, _I know my way to the village from here anyway._

She stopped not too far away from the well to take off her pack for a moment and adjust the straps. She had bent over when something sharp bit into her neck, and then she was falling…falling…falling…

"I'm going to go meet Kagome," Inu-Yasha called as he walked to the forest surrounding the village. "She's supposed to come today." _And if she isn't there waiting,_ his mind added. _I'll drag her here out of her world._

"Be careful," Sango warned. Kilala growled in agreement.

"Hurry back," Miroku replied, waving. As he was waving with the hand that contained the wind tunnel, Inu-Yasha took no comfort.

"Bye!" Shippo yelled, his tail waving.

Inu-Yasha bounded through the trees, his golden eyes taking everything in, white hair flying behind him like a banner. His small white dog-ears twitched, listening carefully for any sign of anything unfriendly. A breeze came his way, and he breathed in. A scent was mingled in with the others, and he grinned. Now _there_ was a scent he loved. Kagome was here.

When he was close to the well, he saw something on the ground and stopped. A human, he guessed by the shape, a young girl maybe. _Wait a second._ His heart pounded, and he inched closer.

He finally was close enough to touch her, and he gently turned the girl over, as to see her face. It felt like his stomach had disappeared. "Kagome," he whispered, his brain refusing to believe that she was dead. _She can be saved!_ It protested. He picked her up, placed her on his shoulder, and started running for the village.

When Sango, Miroku, and Shippo saw Inu-Yasha carrying a lifeless Kagome, they all reacted in very different ways. Shippo started crying and calling, "Kagome! Kagome!" over and over. Miroku went pale at the sight of his friend, but proceeded to try to calm the hysterical Shippo. (To no avail.) Sango became to sensible one, yelling for Lady Kaede.

In no time at all, Lady Kaede appeared. Inu-Yasha had set Kagome down on the ground, and he was staring at the girl with something Kaede had never seen Inu-Yasha express before, fear. She knelt down beside him and put her hand over Kagome's mouth. She left it there for a moment, and then she moved it to her chest. After a minute or two, she looked up at him. Everyone was looking at her with hope, that she would say what they wanted to hear. Except Shippo, whose face was now buried in Miroku's shoulder.

"She is not dead," Kaede said. Relief flooded into Inu-Yasha's face and he smiled slightly. Shippo stopped sobbing and looked at her, Miroku and Sango smiled.

"Can you heal her?" Inu-Yasha asked. Kaede looked around at all of Kagome's friends, all hoping she'd say yes. Kaede dearly wanted to do just that, be she never made promises she couldn't keep.

"I do not know." Kaede replied. Shippo buried his head in Miroku's shoulder again, but he didn't have any tears left. Sango and Miroku looked crestfallen. Inu-Yasha's grief surpassed them all. His eyes filled with pain, pain so intense that it hurt to look at. Kaede imagined that he might have looked much like this when his mother had died. Maybe he would have looked like this if he had lived and Kikyo had died. Kaede felt terrible about hurting them, so she added a promise. "But I will try everything within my power to help her. Someone must take her to my hut."

Inu-Yasha quickly volunteered to do that, and then Kaede forced everyone outside, saying she needed peace and quiet. So Inu-Yasha sat outside and gave death-glares to anyone who passed by and breathed loudly. For over three hours they sat outside the hut, waiting. Inu-Yasha stared at the forest surrounding the village, not really focusing on anything. Suddenly a flash of silver showed through the trees. Inu-Yasha sat up, eyes searching the treetops…hoping…there; another flash of silver. Inu-Yasha jumped up and watched the trees, hoping that his plan would work.

"I'll be back," he said, and then ran off.

He followed the Soul Skimmers, hoping that Kikyo followed her usual code of conduct. In this case, never being too far away from her Skimmers. He got lucky, and she was sitting in a clearing, gathering something from the ground. As he rushed into the space, she looked up, almost smiling. When she saw his face, she stopped.

"Inu-Yasha," she said, sounding concerned. "What's wrong?" she laughed lightly. "You look as if someone died!"

Inu-Yasha looked at her sadly.

"Oh," she glanced at him curiously. "Who was it?"

"She hasn't died yet!" Inu-Yasha blurted out. "But she will soon, if she doesn't get help. Kikyo, you are the best healer I have ever met. You've saved countless people from death! Please help Kagome!"

However, he knew what her response would be, even before she answered.

She was silent for a moment, looking into the distance. Then she looked back at him and spoke. "Inu-Yasha, I do not like Kagome."

"I know, but-"

She put a finger to his lips, effectively shutting him up. "But you care for this Kagome, don't you?"

He said nothing.

"Very well. I will help her because you want me to. But that is the only reason."

Kikyo went right into the hut and stayed there. Inu-Yasha told Sango and Miroku where he had gone and why he had chosen Kikyo to help them. Both humans agreed that his plan had been a good one. A silence fell as everyone thought about what was happening. Inu-Yasha broke the quiet first.

"Hey," he said. "Where's Shippo?" the little fox-demon was nowhere to be seen. Sango nodded to Kilala, who was full size and asleep. Curled up in her tails was little Shippo, also asleep. The group suddenly noticed that it was getting dark. Everyone tried to stay awake, but eventually Sango and Miroku drifted off. Inu-Yasha did not, and he let the humans sleep. After all, they had gone through a very stressful day. The sun was setting, and Inu-Yasha saw Kagome's bag. _Sango must have brought it back,_ he thought. One or two colorful packages had fallen out of it. Curious in spite of the circumstances, he stood up, walked over and picked one up. It felt like his throat was closing up as he realized what it was.

Kagome had brought him Ramon noodles.

He did not eat them; he just put them back in the bag. Inu-Yasha kept watch; waiting for the two women inside the hut to do their magic and make Kagome better.

As dawn occurred, the reed door fell back with a snap and both of the priestesses walked out. _Or, staggered out,_ Inu-Yasha thought. They both came and sat in front of the group, and Inu-Yasha woke the others. Shippo woke up too; he was a light sleeper sometimes. Inu-Yasha sat back down and now had time to examine the two sisters. Kaede looked exhausted, and her white hair was falling down a little. She leaned up against the hut wall for support, eyes closed. Her elder sister Kikyo looked pale and drained, even though her black hair stayed up.

"We have done all we can," Kikyo said faintly.

"But what if that isn't enough?" Shippo asked anxiously. Kaede opened her one eye.

"Then she is in trouble."

Sango and Shippo forced the two women to sleep in another hut not too far away from the original one. Inu-Yasha stayed outside Kagome's hut, standing guard. He did not say why, and no one questioned him. He stayed there for quite a while. Shippo came to talk to him from time to time, and once Miroku stopped by and talked.

Inu-Yasha was curious to see if Kagome had improved. So when no one was looking, he went inside and looked at her. You could tell she was breathing now, and Inu-Yasha relaxed. He went back outside and sat there, feeling a small breeze, just enjoying life. He heard a sound and froze, straining his ears to hear well. He was _sure_ he heard rustling inside the hut. _Kagome's in there!_ He thought with alarm. Inu-Yasha pulled out the Tetsusaiga and ran inside, ready for anything. Anything that is, except what was there.

Kagome was sitting up a little, looking at him with a confused expression. He lowered the Tetsusaiga and watched her.

"Kagome, you're okay!" he said in surprise. She gave him another strange look.

"Who are you?" she asked. Then, tired by even that tiny exertion, she fell back onto the mat. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the makeshift pillow. _What did she mean by that?_ He wondered as he sheathed his blade and ran outside, calling for Lady Kaede and everyone else.

In the next few weeks, Kagome continued to improve, in body. But her mind was still gone, locked away somewhere. She never recognized anyone, not even Inu-Yasha. Kikyo even appeared once or twice, and Kagome didn't notice a thing. Everyone stood before her, hoping that they would jog her memory a bit. She didn't seem to remember at all. She didn't even remember her mom or grandpa or little Sota. She didn't think about it.

Inu-Yasha never went far from her side, doing things he used to, bringing out the Tetsusaiga out once or twice, hoping that would help. Every once in a while, she'd put her hand to her head, and if someone asked her what was wrong, she'd give them a strange answer. "I don't know. Images, strange images." She'd say, and that was it.

Inu-Yasha was tired. He'd spent the whole day trying to get Kagome to remember things. It seemed that she remembered things better around Inu-Yasha, though no one knew why. Inu-Yasha had no idea either, but he didn't care.

Kagome had once told Grandpa Myoga all about her friend that had forgotten everything. She'd called it 'amnesia'. Anyway, this friend couldn't remember _anything_. Kagome apparently was really good friends with this girl. So she tried everything to restore this girl's memory. Nothing worked. Eventually the girl had seen someone or something like that and she'd had something called 'total recall'. Kagome said that was when someone remembered everything after having amnesia.

Inu-Yasha was hoping that something like that would happen to Kagome. She seemed to be remembering things, but the memories were coming very slowly. From what the girl said, the memories were truly no more than images, and every once in a while a series of images in sequence. She said that this kind was much like watching a 'movie', whatever that was.

But as long as she remembered something, it didn't matter.

He was exhausted, and his body screamed for rest. Although he'd trained himself to ignore the signals his body gave him, he relented this once. Climbing up in a tree, he leaned up against the cool bark, feeling the wood beneath his back. _I'll only sleep an hour,_ he thought. _An hour; no more._ He drifted off to sleep quickly.

Five hours later, Sango was sitting on Kilala, searching the woods surrounding the village. She had a very concerned look on her face. It was getting dark. That was bad. Kagome sat behind her, her arms around Sango's waist in a death-grip. But Sango did comment. _After all,_ she mused, still searching for the half-demon. _To Kagome, this is the first time she's ever ridden on Kilala._

A wave of sadness rolled over Sango. Kagome and her used to be almost best friends. Now Kagome could barely remember who Sango was. And Shippo was taking the memory loss hard too, spending almost all his time with Kagome, playing and just chatting in general.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked, glancing at the demon exterminator. "What are we looking for?"

"It's the new moon tonight," Sango said. She saw something flicker in Kagome's face and she waited, hoping something would happen.

Kagome could see a blurry Inu-Yasha saying something about the new moon. He looked worried. Then everything slid back into focus, and Kagome was staring at Sango's back.

"Something really bad happens during the new moon, right?" she asked. "Something we don't want to happen?"

"Well," Sango replied. "Inu-Yasha doesn't want it to happen. It'll happen no matter what we do, but we need to find him. If he's left outside during the new moon…or even inside…" Kagome saw Sango shudder. "It'll be bad for everyone."

"What will happen?" Kagome asked, wondering. After all, Inu-Yasha was a demon right? _No,_ a tiny voice said from the back of her mind. _He's a half-demon._

Sango looked around at her. "He'll turn into a human," she said simply.

"_Inu-Yasha!"_

The voice filtered through the said half-demons dreams. He slowly woke up, annoyed. _I'm going to kill her,_ her thought as he slipped down thorough the trees. As he hit the ground, he realized that it was just getting to be dark. And he realized with a shock what cycle the moon would be on. He mentally cursed himself for forgetting. And then the change started. His hair turned black, ears shrunk, fangs and claws receded, eyes dulled from brilliant gold to a gray. He pounded the ground in frustration. It was then that his normal, human ears heard the sound of something coming through the trees, yelling his name. Inu-Yasha thought it was Sango, but he wasn't sure. So he hid behind a tree and waited.

Sure enough, Sango came rushing in on Kilala, and Kagome was there too. He walked out and stood sulkily staring at them. Sango eventually convinced him to ride on Kilala. She made him get between her and Kagome. Mostly because her ribs felt broken, but also because she wanted Kagome to see the difference.

Mercifully for Inu-Yasha, Kagome didn't mention his change, only mused about it in her head.

While everyone else was sleeping, Inu-Yasha stayed awake. He hardly ever slept as a human, it didn't feel right. Someone stirred, and Kagome sat up, then turned around and looked right at Inu-Yasha. He motioned for her to sit next to him, something that she did. She was obviously still half-asleep, and she leaned against Inu-Yasha. He moved his arm so she could be more comfortable, and it somehow ended up on her shoulder.

"Inu-Yasha…" Kagome murmured. "I'm sorry I don't remember anything…"

"It's all right." he said, feeling bad that she felt she should apologize. "It's not really your fault, anyway."

Kagome laid her head on his shoulder. "I know…but Shippo said that we used to really like each other."

Inu-Yasha's heartbeat sped up. "Yeah, we were good friends," he broke off.

"Mm-hmm. I still like you, though. It's weird, but your name is the easiest to remember. And your sword…the Tetsusaiga…you had to fight your brother for it, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"His name was…" Kagome struggled to remember. "Shesshaumaru."

"Yes. See, Kagome, you remember some things."

"Yes…" she said, barely awake. Within seconds, she was completely asleep. Inu-Yasha blinked but didn't move. He didn't move even when the sun rose and he became, once again, a half-demon. Miroku awoke first and smiled at Kagome and Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha normally would have to him to shut up, but he had fallen asleep shortly after regaining his demon-hood. Miroku stayed near them and told Sango and Shippo to stay quiet, that the two were sleeping. All three inched out of the hut, trying not to wake the other two.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Inu-Yasha!" Kagome cried, as he fell to the floor. "Inu-Yasha, I'm so sorry, I didn't-"_

"_Be quiet!" someone said, and Kagome spun around. It was a woman, older than Kagome. She did look a little like Kagome though, and the woman laughed. "So it's true," she said scornfully. "What goes around, comes around. But of course, it never comes around quite as well the second time, does it?"_

_The woman grabbed Kagome's arm and held on, her long nails digging into Kagome's skin._

"_No! No! _No! No! No!" Kagome flailed in her sleep, hitting Inu-Yasha as she did so.

"Kagome! Wake up!" Inu-Yasha said, holding her arm. "Kagome!"

Kagome's eyes opened, and for a second, she looked terrified. But then she settled and calmed. She looked blearily down at her arm, and Inu-Yasha let go. He had accidentally dug his claws into her arm when he was trying to calm her down, and the cuts were bleeding. Inu-Yasha's nose filled with the smell of Kagome's blood.

"I'm sorry," he said, kneeling down. "I hurt you, didn't I?"

Kagome looked up and met his eyes. He seemed honestly sorry. "It's-all right," she said, examining the scratches. "It's not that bad."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Inu-Yasha helped her up. She stood and fell down. Inu-Yasha helped her up again, and rewarded her with a tiny smile. Kagome felt the walls of her mind start to burst with memories, then they were gone. Kagome and Inu-Yasha walked outside and were instantly surrounded by the others. However, as Kagome talked and laughed with Sango and Shippo, someone appeared at her side. She turned and froze. A woman, older than Kagome stood next to her. She looked a little like Kagome, though.

"You are feeling better then?" the woman commented. Kagome stared. _The woman from my dream, _she thought, panicking. "Kagome?" the woman asked.

Kagome turned and fled, into the forest. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was that she needed to get out of there. Everyone else stared, then the place erupted.

"What happened?" yelled Inu-Yasha, turning in time to see Kagome disappear into the woods.

"She saw me and ran," Kikyo said, confused. "I do not know why."

"She looked scared," Shippo piped up.

"Scared…" Inu-Yasha echoed.

"She didn't look scared, she looked terrified!" Sango declared.

Inu-Yasha stood straight and bolted for the woods. He alone had been with Kagome when she had awoke, and he alone had seen the terror in her face. _Bad dreams? _Inu-Yasha wondered. _Or bad _memoriesEither way, somehow, the dream had been about Kikyo, Inu-Yasha was sure of that. And seeing Kikyo had probably set things off in her head that shouldn't have been set off, not yet.

Kagome stopped running and sat on the ground. Images seethed throughout her mind. Kikyo, that was the woman's name. She had been a priestess. And Inu-Yasha had loved her. He had loved her, and Kagome even had an image of him kissing Kikyo. Somehow, Kikyo had died, (Kagome had an idea that it was partially Inu-Yasha's fault) but she was back to life now…and Kagome was of some sort of relation to Kikyo. Kagome pounded her forehead, wishing she could remember. Something about a woman named Kaede, Kaede could tell her. Kaede was Kikyo's sister…but Kagome's friend. That much Kagome understood from the images in her head.

The bushes shook, and Inu-Yasha appeared, with an impassive look on his face. He knelt down beside Kagome. She scooted away, not fully understanding why. Inu-Yasha now looked sad.

"You remember, huh?" he said quietly.

"I remember enough," Kagome whispered.

Inu-Yasha glanced at the ground. "Kagome…" he said. "Search your memory for me. Do you remember the time when I broke away from Kikyo to save you?"

"Yes. After you kissed her."

Inu-Yasha winced. He had hoped she hadn't remembered that. "Well, yes. But I stopped because I heard your voice. Remember?"

"Kind of," Kagome mumbled, trying desperately to remember everything. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't have to think of Inu-Yasha so badly. She looked up at him. "Inu-Yasha, how am I related to Kikyo?"

Inu-Yasha glanced up quickly . "You…don't remember?" he asked incredulously.

"No."

"You're…you're her reincarnation," Inu-Yasha said, surprised that she wouldn't remember something as important as that.

Kagome fainted. Just like that. After all, she _had _just gotten over being sick, she really shouldn't have gone running through the woods. Inu-Yasha caught her before she hit the ground, slung her across his back, and brought her back to the village. Kaede ordered that Kagome be put in a bed, and Inu-Yasha spoke privately with her. Kaede understood, and soon after, Kikyo left. After saying good-bye to Inu-Yasha, of course.

When Kagome woke up, Inu-Yasha stayed with her the whole day. She was nice to him and everything, but there was a kind of distance between them now. It bothered him. He probably shouldn't have thought about it so much, but he did. After all, she had only remembered certain parts. The parts with Inu-Yasha and Kikyo. She apparently hadn't remembered all the times between the two of them, and those parts were very important to the story.

Miroku noticed the distance, and so did Sango. They wondered what had gone on between the two in the forest, but were afraid to ask.

Inu-Yasha was bored. He hadn't collected any Shikon Shards for a long time now. That was bad. He wanted to, and asked if they could leave. Kagome agreed even before he finished explaining, and the others followed her lead. So they were off, and Kagome didn't even have her memory back yet. At least, not completely.

They hadn't even been out an hour when Kagome looked sharply to their left. Inu-Yasha, having seen that look a million times by now, stopped and swung out the Tetsusaiga. Sango pulled out her boomerang bone, and Miroku put his hand to the beads covering the tunnel in his hand. Neither of them knew exactly what was going on, but if Inu-Yasha swung out his Tetsusaiga, you brought out everything you had.

Out of nowhere, a large group of wolf-demons blocked their way. While Inu-Yasha was taking care of them, something whizzed past him, grabbed Kagome, and vanished. Shippo started screeching, and Inu-Yasha cursed. "Damn you, Kouga!" he cried, hacking off the head of a wolf demon.

Kagome sat amidst the group of wolf-demons, frightened. The one that called himself Kouga had come by a lot, asking her over and over again if she was absolutely sure that she didn't remember him. Every time, Kagome would answer no, but she had started to remember fuzzy parts of it.

The very first time Kouga had stolen her, (she had a notion that this wasn't the first time) Inu-Yasha had followed her and even fought Kouga for her. Kagome remembered that much. She pulled her legs close to her and wrapped her arms around herself. Kagome wanted to go home. She wanted Inu-Yasha.

"What?" Kouga cried, when Kagome asked to be taken back to Inu-Yasha. "That _puppy? _You'd rather have that sniveling, weakling _puppy _than a man like myself?"

Kagome quietly looked at him, then nodded. "Yes," she said, sounding a lot more confident that she was. "I would."

Kouga turned and fumed for several minutes. Then he turned back to her. "All right, Kagome." he said, smiling. "Let's make a deal. If Inu-Yasha can make it here…if he can find you…then he can have you."

"But you can't put any guards that will attack him or try to trick him!" Kagome cried, for she know remembered that entire part of her adventures. "That's unfair."

"Fine." Kouga looked downcast. "Fair play." Then he turned, and if he had had a cloak, he would have swished it.

Inu-Yasha punched the ground again. "Where could he have _gone?_" They had asked several villages, and most of them had said they hadn't seen the wolf-demons for a long time. But the last village had said that the clan had gone past the week before, but hadn't heard any news since.

"Maybe you could sniff her out!" Shippo said excitedly. "Kagome told me once about these dogs that could smell a person and follow their scent trail, and-"

Inu-Yasha gave him a withering look. "I am not a bloodhound," he said loftily, enjoying the fact that he knew the proper name for the dog Shippo was talking about. "And besides, Kagome was _carried._ Therefore, she probably wouldn't leave a scent trail."

"What about Kouga?" Miroku asked, who secretly wished that Inu-Yasha would sniff her out like a dog. Miroku thought that would be hilarious.

"_His _filthy scent? Feh, I couldn't get that nasty smell out of my nose for _weeks _the last time we followed him."

"Well, what other choice do we have?" Sango asked. "We _have _to find Kagome. What if she falls for Kouga?" Sango added, knowing this would spur Inu-Yasha on.

Inu-Yasha's ears flattened against his head. "She wouldn't," he said, sounding hurt.

"The best way to make sure is finding her quickly," Miroku commented.

Inu-Yasha glared at them, then sighed and got on his hands and knees, trying to figure out exactly _how _long ago Kouga had gone by.

Kagome was _not _having fun. All the wolf-demons around her were eating and slobbering. One of them quite near her was tearing into something that looked suspiciously like a human. Kouga offered her some meat, but she refused, fully aware of what the meat might be. She explained that she was not feeling well, so she'd better not eat, thank you very much.

There was a ruckus at the front of the cave. Seeing Kagome looking his way, Kouga ordered that whatever was causing the distraction be brought to him. Two large, frightening wolf-demons brought forth a strange creature unlike anything Kagome had ever seen. It was squealing and kicking and making crying noises. Kouga was going to have it eaten. Kagome knew this. So she begged Kouga.

"Oh, please! Give it to me!" she said desperately. "I'll take care of it, you won't need to bother about it. Please, Kouga!"

Kouga contemplated it, then laughed. "Why not?" he roared, and one of the demons threw the creature toward Kagome. She jumped up and caught the creature, then retreated back to her corner.

"It's okay little guy," Kagome said, petting it. The wolf demons laughed and shrugged, thinking this was clearly a female thing. But under her breath, Kagome whispered something different. "Shippo," she said quietly. "You shouldn't have come on your own. You could have been eaten!"

"I know," Shippo whispered back. He had apparently transformed into a creature and snuck in, trying to find Kagome. "but we missed you. So I volunteered to come and try to sneak past the demons and find you, then I was supposed to go back and tell Inu-Yasha where you were."

"And he let you!" Kagome whispered, shocked.

"No. He said no way, but I snuck past him."

"Well, you can't go back now. If Kouga sees you going back and forth, he'll get suspicious."

"Yeah," Shippo said sleepily. It was warm in Kagome's arms, and he fell asleep. Kagome however, stayed wide awake and alert. If Inu-Yasha came in, she wanted to see him.

Inu-Yasha watched the entrance to the cave. Shippo had entered earlier, but by then it was too late to stop him. Inu-Yasha was angry. He had told the little demon NO, but of course, he had disobeyed him.

"Inu-Yasha," Miroku said worriedly. "We should go in and look for him, wolf demons or no. What if Shippo's hurt, or has been killed? What if Lady Kagome is-"

"All right," Inu-Yasha said, not wanting to hear the words. "Come on!"

Sango had changed her clothes earlier, and thus they approached the cave. A wolf-guard intercepted them. "You Inu-Yasha?" he inquired in a gravelly tone.

"Yes."

"Well, we're supposed to keep you from coming through."

"Really?" Inu-Yasha said, cracking his knuckles. "That's too bad."

And so the battle began. Throughout the entire cave, they kept running into demons and having to slaughter them. It was getting old by the time they stumbled into the main cavern. Kouga was standing in the middle. Kagome was standing next to him, and a small furry creature of some sort was next to her. Kagome moved toward Inu-Yasha, but Kouga stopped her.

"Wait," he said. "He has to battle me first."

Kagome went red. "That was _not _in our bargain," she said.

"Change of plans." Kouga winked at her, obviously thinking she would do nothing. Oh no. Not Kagome! She brought her hand back and slapped him, as hard as she could. It sent him to the ground, by sheer surprise. Then Kagome ran to Inu-Yasha, who had the Tetsusaiga drawn. She ran to him and hugged him. He awkwardly put his hands around her, and she was very still for a long time. While this was going on, Shippo transformed back and talked with Miroku, making up stories about how he had battled a lot of people and won all these glorious victories so he could get to Kagome.

When Kagome looked back up and Inu-Yasha, the distance that had been between them was completely and wholly gone.

"Inu-Yasha," she said, but the way she said it had changed. It now carried more meaning. "Inu-Yasha, I remember!" and then she burst into tears and buried her face in his (robe? Coat? Shirt? Whatever the heck that thing he always wears is). Inu-Yasha no longer felt awkward. He was happy, happier than he had been in a long time. Kagome liked him! And she had slapped Kouga, in order to be with him! That made him feel good.

The only thing was, he wished it could have been _him_ that slapped Kouga.

They did not return to the village. Instead, taking the food they had gotten from the wolf-demons, (but no meat) they left and continued on their journey. After all, what would be the point of going back?

Kagome and Inu-Yasha walked side-by-side. Kagome slipped her hand into his, and for once, he wasn't even a little embarrassed. Miroku tried to do the same with Sango, but she promptly slapped him. (his other hand was heading toward her butt. sigh)

Shippo shook his head and promised himself that he would never fall in love. Look what it had gotten Kagome into!

Kagome and Inu-Yasha were walking along the road, happy to be together. The others were behind them, talking about something they had heard from one of the villagers, something about a farmer going out to bring in his horses to feed them in the morning, and the entire herd was slaughtered, drained of blood and hollow of all their organs. It was the work of a demon, that much was certain.

Usually, Inu-Yasha and Kagome would participate in this discussion, but at the moment, they were both too busy thinking about the other.

Without warning, there was a loud crashing sound and a shrill scream from ahead of them. Everyone stopped, frozen in their tracks. Kagome was the first to act, she took off running for the source of the sound. Inu-Yasha followed her, to make sure she wouldn't get hurt. Sango was next, and Miroku close behind her, for he wanted Sango to think him brave. Shippo followed, riding on Kilala.

When Kagome had passed a small hill, she could see a rope-and-wooden bridge. It reached across a small canyon, which had a stream running through it, very far down. Kagome started to walk across the bridge, seeing nothing wrong. But half-way across the bridge, she saw a slat was missing. Mustering her courage, she looked down.

There was a little girl, about Shippo's age, holding onto a rope that had once kept a wooden slat in place. Her fingers were slipping, and she looked up at Kagome.

"Hello, there." Kagome said anxiously. "My name is Kagome. Do you need help?"

The girl laughed, and replied in a perfectly calm voice. "My name is Izabo. And yes, help would be greatly appreciated at this point." she looked down at the canyon floor.

"Inu-Yasha!" Kagome said urgently. "Can you lift her up onto the bridge?"

Inu-Yasha looked past Kagome at the little girl. "Of course," he said, sighing. "She's tiny."

Kagome moved, and Inu-Yasha lifted up Izabo with one hand, without straining at all. Izabo glanced up at him.

"Thank…you." she said, looking at all the people gathered along the bridge. Kagome suddenly realized something. This girl…she was different somehow. Almost as if…but no, why would she? Kagome looked harder and nearly gasped aloud. Around the little girl's neck was a length of rope, and from that rope hung a silver metal ring. This necklace, however, was no ordinary necklace. Kagome could see the Shards in it. This girl…was a shard carrier!

Kagome deeply wished she could tell Inu-Yasha, but there was no way to do it without letting Izabo know. So Kagome tried something else. "Hey Izabo," she said kindly. "That's a pretty necklace. Where did you get it?"

"Hm? Oh, this? A friend of mine gave it to me." The little girl betrayed no emotion whatsoever.

"Really? Who was this friend?" Kagome pressed. She wished the girl would go off and talk to Sango and Miroku, but Izabo was being stubborn.

"Oh…his name was Naraku." The little girl said sweetly. Time seemed to stop. Inu-Yasha looked at her and back up at Kagome, who nodded. Sango went red and pulled out the boomerang bone. Miroku put his hand to the rosary that held in the hellhole. Inu-Yasha put his hand to the Tetsusaiga's hilt.

Izabo's eyes had a slightly red look to them. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking around at all the pale faces. "Did I say something?"

"Izabo, may I see that necklace?" Kagome asked cautiously.

"_No!" _Izabo's voice was harsh and grating. She crouched and lunged at Kagome, not a good thing to do on a rope bridge. But oh well.

At the same time, Inu-Yasha lunged at Izabo. He grabbed the cold ring of metal and yanked as hard as he could. (Which was a lot of strength) The rope holding the metal snapped, and Izabo fell to the bottom of the bridge, howling. Miroku forced everyone to get off the bridge. Inu-Yasha, however, was on the wrong side. Kagome was screaming at him to jump over Izabo, and Inu-Yasha threw the necklace over the side before he did.

Izabo screamed, a blood-curdling shriek that people in the village nearby cowered at. She lunged at Inu-Yasha, and, being so close to the side, was thrown over. Both Izabo and Inu-Yasha went over, and Kagome pushed past Miroku and held out her hand, hoping he could reach. But even if he could have, he wouldn't have. It would have pulled her over too.

Inu-Yasha and Izabo fell, two demons fighting each other. For now that her necklace was gone, the image spell was destroyed, and her true form was shown. A large demon, as ugly as she was powerful. Inu-Yasha couldn't get to his sword, she wouldn't stop fighting him. To even move his hands from the fight for an instant would mean death. And second after second, the bottom of the canyon came ever nearer.

As Inu-Yasha thought of that, he yelled over the rushing wind, "You're going to be smashed like the bug you are!" hoping that she was as dumb as the other demons he had fought. Indeed she was, for she looked down. In that instant, Inu-Yasha pulled out Tetsusaiga. She saw this and screamed her rage, but too late.

"Wind-Scar!" Inu-Yasha screamed, and the demon was cut in half, both halves screaming in anger, both halves dead. As Inu-Yasha fell, he thought faintly that at least Kagome and the others were safe.

Then he hit the water.

Kagome called Inu-Yasha's name over and over, knowing that it wasn't going to help them any, but it felt good to call his name and weep. She watched him disappear, for the sun went down at that moment, and the canyon was engulfed in darkness. She fancied she heard Inu-Yasha's voice calling something, then a flash of light, but she convinced herself that it was only a hallucination.

"Kagome…" Sango put her hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go."

"Can we…go down there?" Kagome asked tearfully. "Please?"

Sango paused and thought to herself that Kagome had already gone through enough. The least they could do was help her find Inu-Yasha, who had saved all their lives multiple times. Miroku shook his head sadly when he heard Kagome's request, but he didn't argue.

And so they went down the canyon. Kagome walked down the trail, followed by her friends. As they got further to the bottom, it got even darker. The moon didn't shine down here. Shippo used his foxfire to create a floating ball of fire that bobbed around them, lighting their way.

When they had gotten to the bottom, they searched everywhere. Inu-Yasha was not to be found. They found both halves of the demon, and Kagome wanted to kick it, but she didn't. Finally, just as they were about to give up, Shippo said,

"Hey, what's that?"

The foxfire floated over to where he had pointed, and Kagome caught sight of silvery hair, then she ran to Inu-Yasha. He had apparently been in the water and washed up on the shore, because he was all wet. Sango pounded on his chest, trying to get him to breathe again. Miroku prayed to his gods, and Shippo found a lot of gooey, nasty smelling stuff. He stuck it underneath Inu-Yasha's nose, knowing how sharp Inu-Yasha's sense of smell was. If anything would wake him up, that would.

All of them knew that Inu-Yasha was dead, they were only doing all these things for Kagome's sake. Miroku built a fire, and everyone glumly went to sleep. Kagome, however, did not. She sat by Inu-Yasha's side and let the tears fall like rain. What was the point of sleeping, anyway? Inu-Yasha was dead. Who cared about anything else?

Inu-Yasha could hear Kagome and the others talking. He smelled the stuff Shippo put under his nose and wanted to gag. But for some reason, he had no control over anything. He was still breathing, and his heart was still beating, so he was alive, at least.

There was a long silence, then he could hear someone crying close to him, quietly, but his dog-ears caught the sound. _Kagome…_he thought. _Kagome…are you crying for ME?_

Inu-Yasha could feel Kagome near him, and suddenly, she reached out and smoothed back part of the hair that was over his eyes. His eyes were still closed, but he could feel it. She smoothed back his hair and then sat back. There was a long silence after that. Inu-Yasha could feel her looking at him. If only he could tell her he was all right!

Suddenly, as if answering his thoughts, his ear twitched. All by itself, his ear twitched. He heard Kagome gasp, then she whispered,

"I-Inu-Yasha?"

He twitched his ear.

"You're alive!" she threw her arms around him. She was warm, he thought. And now she was wet, and most likely cold. He was, anyway. "Sango, Miroku, Shippo!" he heard her call. "He's alive!"

Inu-Yasha heard Sango's response. "Kagome, I'm sorry. Inu-Yasha's dead…"

"No, he's not. Come look!"

Inu-Yasha could almost hear what Sango was thinking. _Humor her, _was going through her head. _she's just lost someone close to her. Humor her._

"Inu-Yasha?" Kagome said, coming closer. Inu-Yasha twitched his ear several times. It seemed that his ear was the only part of his body that he could move. "See!" Kagome said, and Shippo wailed.

"Inu-Yasha, Inu-Yasha!" he said, tugging at Inu-Yasha's robe. "Are you okay?"

Inu-Yasha flicked his ear forward, then flattened it against his head.

The group kept asking him questions, and they quickly developed a system of communication. Flick the ear forward, yes. Flatten it against head, no. This worked, to a degree. Within an hour, Inu-Yasha discovered he could turn his head and open his eyes. He could also talk now, and Kagome wouldn't leave his side.

She was constantly near him, making up stupid or absolutely crazy excuses. Miroku, Shippo and Sango could see straight through all of Kagome's half-baked stories, but they said nothing of it. What was the point?

"Two things," Miroku said, for they had called a meeting. Shippo and Kagome had managed to prop Inu-Yasha against the canyon wall. "First, was that girl another incarnate of Naraku? Or was she someone else, who simply used the name?"

"I would say she was a Naraku incarnate," Kagome said, holding up the necklace. It had been rescued from the river an hour or so before this meeting took place. Kagome had managed somehow to take the shards out of it. They were now lying on the ground in front of her. "I mean, look at how many shards she had!"

"Okay. One more thing; why couldn't Inu-Yasha move? Because it's obviously wearing off now."

"True." Sango looked away, and suddenly noticed something everyone else had overlooked. "Inu-Yasha, you're bleeding!"

Inu-Yasha's sleeve was soaked in blood. Inu-Yasha looked down and shook his head. "No," he said. "That's not mine. It's that demon witches."

Shippo came running up to them, yelling for Kagome. "What is it, Shippo?" she asked. He was flicking his hand, as if to dry it.

"My hand's numb!" he whined, showing it to her. The hand was covered in strange, red stuff that made Kagome's fingers tingle. The very tips of her fingers, (where she had touched Shippo's hand) went completely numb.

"Shippo, what were you doing?" she asked. Sango looked over Kagome's shoulder, and Inu-Yasha looked over at the hand and sniffed the air.

"That's the demon's blood," he said, narrowing his eyes at poor Shippo. "You weren't poking around that body, were you?"

"No!" Shippo defended. Then, "Well, kinda."

"That's it, then." Miroku said, sounding satisfied. "The demon's blood makes you numb! Thus Inu-Yasha could not move!"

"Make's sense," Inu-Yasha commented, shrugging.

By nightfall, he had complete control of his body. He could stand and everything, which was nice. They moved the next day, skirting around the body and climbed up the canyon.


End file.
